It’s pretty crazy how normal life has become. Even after moving in with my host family. I don’t know if it’s just me and the fact that I adjust rather quickly to new situations and places. I thought I’d be missing home more than I do. I’ve found that it becomes easier the longer you are away. It’s always weird and hard at first but then you get into a routine. You get used to how things are. Like that fact that the toilet is in a different room than the sink and shower. You always take your shoes off at the door. Traffic is horrendous. Cold water stops working for no reason at all. Taxi drivers get lost. Wallets are stolen on the bus. The power goes out in a whole apartment complex. The store is all out of your favorite kind of chocolate cookies. Everyone carries a plastic bag with them. Mom won’t let you out of the house without a hat on. Russians dancing in the halls at school. Drinking tea 5 times a day. Being served tongue for lunch. Using hand motions 99% of the time. Having to take your own role of toilet paper to the bathroom with you. People doing drugs on the street. Men giving up their seat for ladies on the bus. Showering at night. Not showering for days in a row.
I think before I came to Russia I had the mentality that America was at the center of the world. And it may be in some aspects. I guess I’m just realizing how big our world really is. There is so much out there. So much to be seen. So much to learn. I feel like my journey to Russia has opened my mind a lot. It’s also triggered a lot of desires within me. Like my desire to travel. So broad yet so simple. I feel like once I get back to the states, I won’t know what to do with myself. I graduate in May and that’s a scary thing. But it’s also exciting because I have the whole world in front of me. Where will I venture off to next? Where will this heart lead me? There are moments, like for instance, when I was gargling this nasty medicine stuff for my sore throat and it just hit me. I’m 11 hours away from what I always thought was reality. But the truth is, I’m living reality. This is life, right now. Whether I’m in America where I’m safe and comfortable or in a foreign country, challenged by unfamiliar things. Time doesn’t stop. And it definitely doesn’t run according to my schedule.
It’s only the beginning of a world I’m dying to see
Frightening yet exciting
My pulse races to the beat of this dream
I feel I’m jumping into a faith I don’t know if I have
And courage, I’m still trying to find
My heart longs for things I can’t explain
My feet are drawn to a place I’ve never been
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2 comments:
i love reading your words roommate. you are an incredible writer and it's so amazing how you encourage me all the way from russia :) i've always felt like everything you say is everything i'm feeling. it's weird how that is...but soak it all in cuz you'll miss it guaranteed when you come back. love you and enjoy the ride...
I love this last post. It rings so true. It makes me want to travel to Russia too or somewhere unknown. I mean I know that I'm in Bethel and that seems pretty foreign and it is to many extents, but it's not new to me, I've been here before in many ways it's home. But I don't want to get ahead of myself, I'm here for at least the next two years and I know that the Lord has much to show me. I should travel to the villages soon- now those are foreign. So different and so beautiful.
I love what you wrote at the end. Is that the beginning to a new song? I hope so. When are you gonna send me a CD I miss your voice!
I love you so much and I'm so privileged to call you Friend.
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